Feds: Megaupload user files may be deleted starting Thursday

Cogent Communications and Carpathia, Megaupload's two US hosting providers, …

The US Attorney's Office leading the prosecution of Megaupload founder Kim Dotocm and his associates has told the court that the companies hosting Megaupload data might begin deleting data on February 2, according to an AP report.

"The execution of those search warrants [on the servers] has now been completed," said the government letter. "The United States copied selected Mega Servers and copied selected data from some of the other Mega Servers, but did not remove any of the Mega Servers from the premises.

"Now that the United States has completed execution of its search warrants, the United States has no continuing right to access the Mega Servers. The Mega Servers are not in the actual or constructive custody or control of the United States, but remain at the premises controlled by, and currently under the control of, Carpathia and Cogent. Should the defendants wish to obtain independent access to the Mega Servers, or coordinate third-party access to data housed on Mega Servers, that issue must be resolved directly with Cogent or Carpathia. It is our understanding that the hosting companies may begin deleting the contents of the servers beginning as early as February 2, 2012."

Since Megaupload's assets are frozen, company attorney Ira Rothken told AP reporter Joshua Freed that Megaupload was unable to continue to pay its hosting providers, but that he had been working with prosecutors to keep the data—belonging to at least 50 million Megaupload users—from being erased.

Carpathian and Cogent representatives have not commented on the letter.

Sean Gallagher / Sean is Ars Technica's IT Editor. A former Navy officer, systems administrator, and network systems integrator with 20 years of IT journalism experience, he lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.